The scenery in the Denver area is as green as I can ever remember this May and June, thanks to a wetter than normal spring. The eastbound Zephyr makes is way east of Blue Mountain Road under partly cloudy skies.
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Between Tolland and the bridge over East Portal Road, the tracks seem to run through a long valley of trees. This evening, an hour late Zephyr is running through a slow order on the approach to Tolland.
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AMTK 18 and AMTK 147 lead the eastbound Zephyr across East Portal Road on the single track main between East Portal and Tolland. The sun is trying to press through the clouds around the Continental Divide in the distance.
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NS 4130 and a pair of BNSF SD70ACes cross over South Boulder Creek just east of Tolland. In the distance, you can see a few of the mountains around James Peak and the Continental Divide.
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This spring has been unusually wet and cool, the result of which has been some absolutely spectacular green scenery! Case-in-point is this view of an eastbound BNSF oil train, led by an NS AC44C6M, at the east switch of East Portal.
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This BNSF oil train is crossing East Portal Road near the east end of East Portal as the tail end of the train is actually still in the Moffat Tunnel. A couple of cars are waiting at the grade crossing as the train rolls by.
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It is almost guaranteed that the afternoons will bring clouds on the east side of the Continental Divide in Colorado. Today is no exception as an NS-led oil train follows along a very full South Boulder Creek at East Portal.
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An eastbound BNSF oil train is led by a Norfolk Southern "catfish" out of the Moffat Tunnel under cloud afternoon skies. At this location, the eastbound is roughly 9,170 feet above sea level.
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A pair of P42DCs lead a baggage car and nine Superliners on an on-time westbound Zephyr. Here at Prospect Jct, as the train is about to pass underneath I-25, we see the Zephyr as it moves from BNSF to UP. The train has just changed channels from 3939 to 1414.
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After an on-time departure, from Denver Union Station, the Zephyr has come to a stop in the OS at Prospect Jct to pick up a conductor that threw a switch. It is here at Prospect Jct that the Zephyr moves from BNSF tracks to UP tracks. It will run on Main 2 between Prospect Jct and Fox Jct, where it will change over to the single main track to continue west.
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UP's MNYGJ is typically called (and departs) Denver west after sunset. It's possible that, with the days almost at their longest, the train is departing just prior to sunset. It's also possible that it just happens to be early on this Saturday evening. Either way, four units lead the manifest west in Arvada.
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There is a relatively narrow cut in the middle of Arvada between Carr Street and 68th Avenue. This time of year, when the trees have all their leaves, it appears as though trains just barely squeeze through. Here, UP's MNYGJ is on the roll westbound.
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After meeting the eastbound Zephyr at C&S Junction, UP's MNYGJ is now on the move westbound through Arvada. The train is passing through the high/wide detector at MP 8.4.
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With thunderstorms building to the north, the eastbound California Zephyr is about 50 minutes late as it rolls through Arvada. As we move closer to summer, the heat has been increasing, and UP has been putting out a lot of 10 MPH slow orders due to the possibility of sun kinks in the rails.
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BNSF's Provo-Denver is relatively short today, but still running in a 3x2 configuration. Despite being slightly shorter than normal, the train is still primarily composed of tank cars as it rolls through Arvada on the final 10 or so miles of its trip.
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